The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-10-05

| Che torches which Christ held IN dis
hand, by the light of which the church has
marched to her present position: In the
sound of racks and implements of torture l
hear the rumbling of the wheels of the Gospel
chariot. Scatfolds Of martyrdom have been
the stairs by which the church has ascended
Aqua FORTS is the best test of pure gold.
| Furthermore, our subject impresses US that
sins will come to exposure Long, long ago
had these brothers sold Joseph into Egypt.
They had suppressed the crime, and it was q
profound secret well kept by the brothers.
! But suddenly the secret is out The old
father hears that his son is in Egypt, having
been sold there by the malice of his
own brothers How their cheeks must
have burned and their hearts sunk
pS pSessed sds crime a Fhe O smallest inqnity has
a thousand tongues, and they will blab out an
, exposure Saul was sent to destroy the
Canaanites, their sheep and the oxen. But
when he got down there among the pastures
he saw some fine sheep and oxen too fat to
kill, and so he thought he would steal them.
He drove them toward home, but stopped
to report to the prophet how well he had
executed his commission, when in the dis
tance the sheep began to bleat and the oxen
to below. The secret was out and Samuel
said to the blushing and confounded Saul:
"What means the bleating Of the sheep that
hear and the lowing Of the cattleT Aye, my
hearers, you cannot keep an iniquity quiet
At Just the wrong time the sheep will
bleat and the oxen will below. Achan can
not steal the Babylonish garment without
getting stoned to death, nor Benedict Arnold
betray his country without being e1ecrated
for all time. Look over the police arrests,
these thieves, these burglars, these adulterers,
these counterfeiters, these 'highwaymen,
these assassins They all ,,1 thought hs
deep down that it would never come to resur-
rection. But there was some shoe that an
swered to the print in the sand, some false
keys found in possession, some bloody knife
that whispered Of the deed, and the pub.
lie Indignation, and the anathema OF
outraged law hurled him into the Tombs
or hoisted him on the gallovs. At the close
of the battle between the Dauphin of France
and the Helvetians, Burchard Monk was so
e,ated with the victory that he lifted his
helmet to look Off upon the field, when
wounded soldier hurled stone that struck
his uncovered forehead and he fell. Sin will
always leave some spot exposed. and there IS
no safety in iniquity. Francis the
First, King of France, was discussing how it
was best to get his army into Italy. Amaril,
the court fool, sprang out from the corner
and said to the king and his staff officers:
"You had better be thinking how you Will
you have entered" In other words, it is easier
for us to get into sin than to get out
of it. Whitefield was riding on horseback in
lonely way with some missionary money in
q sack fastened to the saddle bags. A high
waynan sprang out from the thicket and put
his hand out toward the gold, when White
field turned upon him and said" That belongs
to the Lord Jesus Chris, touch it if you dare"
and the villain fell back empty handed into
the thicket. Oh, the power Of conscience
II offended, it becomes Gods ayenging minis
ter. Do not think that you can hide any
great and protracted sin in your hearts. In
an unguarded moment it will slip off the lip,
or some slight occasion may for moment
set ajar this door of hell that you wanted to
keep closed. But suppose that in
this life you hide it, and you get along with
ship on fire within for days may hinder the
flame from breaking out by keeping down the
hatchways, yet at last, in the Judgment, that
iniquity will blaze out before the throne Of
God and the universe.
Furthermore, learn from this subject the
inseparable connection between all events
however remote. Lord Hastings was be-
Of the Queens children, in the very month,
the very day, the very hour and the very mo-
ment. There is wonderful precision in
the Divine judgments. The universe is
only one thought of God. Those
things which seem fragmentary and
isolated are only different parts Of that
one great thought. How far apart seemed
these two events-Joseph sold to the
Arabian merchants and the rulerShip Of
Egypt Yet you see in what mysterious
way God connected the two in one plan. So
all events are linked together. You
who are aged can look back and
group together q thousand things in
your life that once seemed isolated.
One undivid ed chain Of events reached from
the Garden Of Eden to the cross of Calvary,
and thus up to heaven. There is relation
between the smallest insect that huns In the
summer air and the archangel on his
throne God can trace direct ancestral
line from the blue jay that last spring
built its nest in tree behind the house
to some one Of that flock Of birds, which,
when Noah hoisted the ark's window, with a
whirr and dash of bright wings went out to
! sing over Mount Ararat- The tulips that
bloomed this summer in the f1ower-bed were
nursed of last winters snow-hakes The fur
look to the furtherest star on the other
side and say: "You are no relation to me; !"
for from that bright orb a voice Of light
would ring across the heavens responding:
eyes, yes; we are sisters" Sir Sidney Smith
| in prison was playing lawn tennis in the
yard and the ball flew over the wall Another
ball containing letters was thrown back,
and so communication was opened with
the outside world, and Sir Sidney escaped
in time to defeat Bonaparte's Egyptian ex-
pedition. What small incident connected
with what vast RESULT Sir I.obert Peel from
, q pattern he drew on the back Of a pewter
dinner plate got the suggestions Of that
which LED to the important inven-
: tion by which calico is printed. Moth
ing in Gods universe swings at loose
ends. Accidents are only Gods way
| of turning leaf in the book of his eternal
is a path all marked out Each event in our
life is connected with every other event in
our life. Our loss may be the most direct
road to our gain. Our defeats and victories
are twin brothers. The whole direction of
our life was changed by something
which at the time seemed to you a
| trife, while some occurrence which
seemed tremendous affected you but little.
The Rev. DR.. Kennedy, of Basking Ridge,
New Jersey, went into his pulpit one Sab
bath and by strange freak of memory for
got his subject and forgot his text, and in
| great embarrassment rose before his audi
| ence and announced the circumstance and de-
clared himself entirely unable to preach; then
! launched forth in few words Of entreaty
and warning which resulted in the outbreak
ing Of the mightiest revival of religion ever
known in that State, q revival of religion that
resulted in churches still standing and in the
conversion Of a large number Of men who
entered the Gospel ministry who have
brought their thousands into the kingdom
beyond all comprehension. He molds us,
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